I just watched the trailer myself. Absolutely stunning. My guess is that non-Christians would find it intriguing in the way that good trailers are, but for a Christian it was spine-tingling goosebumps.

The brief snippet of music in the soundtrack matched the footage very well; if it's an accurate preview of the movie's soundtrack, they've done an extremely good job.

The Christian season of Lent is coming to a close today, culminating in Easter Sunday and the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. Meanwhile, New Market Films opened The Passion of Christ in 200 more theaters to prepare for an expected surge of moviegoers in connection with the holiday. The movie is a certified blockbuster.

[b]So for those who have seen it, here are the discussion questions:[/b]

[url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASUS_12/4455_12.htm]Is the film anti-Semetic[/url]? Even if not directly anti-Semetic, will it inspire renewed anti-Semetic rhetoric with its world-wide release? And even if it does inspire anti-Semetism, [url=http://www.nationalreview.com/ponnuru/ponnuru200402201151.asp]should the film be faulted[/url]? Was the movie too hard on Caiphas/too soft on Pontius Pilate?

Is the film too gory? [url=http://www.newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/movies/reviews/n_9921/]Too much blood[/url] and [url=http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/mmx-040225-movies-review-mw-thepassionofthechrist,0,4046547.story?coll=mmx-movies_top_heds]Mel Gibson machismo[/url], not enough love and well-rounded characters?

And how about that infatuation with Jesus' death? Was the [url=http://christdot.org/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3209]resurrection scene at the end too short[/url]?

Not to mention the [url=http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/cst-ftr-passion24.html]Catholic slant[/url] to the flim. Good? Bad? Did anyone even notice? [url=http://www.biblia.com/christ/viacrucis.htm]The Stations of the Cross[/url], [url=http://www.skeptiseum.org/exhibits/miracles/veronica.html]Veronica's Veil[/url], [url=http://www.biblia.com/christ/images/via13.jpg]Descent from the Cross[/url], [url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/citta/B1-Pieta.html]Mary's Pieta[/url]... Too many additions to the "straight Bible version" for evangelical Protestants?

[b]For those who haven't seen it, are you planning on seeing it? Why or why not?[/b]

[Edited on 11-4-2004 by kyle_a]

I thought the Passion was intense and moving. The realism of seeing how much Christ suffered for us is almost too much to take. After a while I did start to become numb just because it was so much. I even heard that they toned down the actual details. The beating/whipping scene is the most graphic and difficult to watch. Amazing that he even lived through that. Its just a totally different perspective to see someone being beaten and knowing it wasn't for his own survival and that any time he could have called on a thousand angels.

I didn't find it overly gory given that the Bible along with history details that kind of treatment. I think this would be too graphic for some people and it would be better for them not to see it, certainly not for young children with older children it really depends on the child.

The only characters really developed were Jesus and Mary. Really not much on Peter or John. I certainly picked up on the catholic influence in the movie in Mary being such a key character, but it really added a good perspective that I am sure resounded with a lot of parents. I noticed the Veronica's Veil part as being something catholic while watching the movie but didn't realize the Stations of the Cross aspects until I just learned what they were. There were a few Catholic aspects that weren't necessary, but overall I don't think it took away from the movie.

The point of the movie is the last 12 hours of Christ so the resurrection wasn't in the scope of the film.

I think the controversy of the movie being anti-semetic helped the movie by creating a buzz that led to people that normally wouldn't see it watching it because it was the thing to do. I didn't think the movie strayed far from the Biblical account as far as the role of the Jews. Hard to say its anti-semetic since Jesus, Mary and the disciples are jewish. The fact is the jews were pushing for Jesus' death and pilate relented to their pleas. Is he responsible? Of course because he was more concerned about political unrest then justice. Are the jews responsible? Of course, they plotted, arrested and caused an uproar in order to have Jesus killed. Clearly living in the age of political correctness has people thinking crazy these days. Just because 2000 years ago the Jews were responsible for Christ's death, why would I hold Jews of today responsible for that. If we make movies about the holocaust do we have to downplay the German's responsibility in order preserve Jewish-German relations? I think its ridiculous that they would want Gibson to change the movie and not portray the events according to their Biblical history. As far as I know there have been no outbreaks of violence or renewed hatred based on this film and the only ones creating a stir are people like the ADL who are so sensitive a gentle breeze could blow them over. Oh no, I am creating a post that could be viewed as anti-ADL.

I know of several people that after watching the movie were asking questions about who this Jesus is and taking a reflective look at their lives so from that perspective I think its a huge success. Also interesting that it returned to number 1 in the box office over Easter weekend.

Two final observations, I was impressed how they showed the impact that Jesus had on some of the minor characters like the servant that lost his ear, simon of sirene and the roman centurion. To think how their lives were changed was a great aspect of the movie.
Another thought, there is a scene where Jesus flashbacks to making a table as a carpenter really the only humorous part of the movie. Its easy to forget that Jesus spent more time as a carpenter than as a teacher. Anyways I was thinking how sweet it would have been to have a table or something made by Jesus, I mean it had to be perfect right? Yeah I've got this really comfortable chair over here, made by the saviour of the world.